Tag: Justice

Digging in Deeper: Romans 2:9-12

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“There will be affliction and distress for every human being who does evil, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek; but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does what is good, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. For there is no favoritism with God. For all who sin without the law will also perish without the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

We love the concept of judgment for sin. If that sounds funny to say, allow me to clarify. We love the idea that people who have done what we recognize to be wrong will face the just consequences for their misdeeds. It doesn’t sound quite so bad when you put it that way, does it? In fact, if you recoiled a bit at the first statement, you may have found yourself nodding along in agreement with the second. That’s because, deep down, we love the concept of judgment for sin. There’s a reason for that: we were created in the image of a God who does too. Let’s talk about why judgment is a good thing, and the way God approaches it is best.

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Morning Musing: Romans 2:5-8

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“Because of your hardened and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed. He will repay each one according to his works: eternal life to those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality; but wrath and anger to those who are self-seeking and disobey the truth while obeying unrighteousness.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Salvation is based on grace. If you’ve been around the church for long, you’ve probably heard that. It’s sort of one of the church’s central messages. In fact, if you’ve been around the church for very long and that’s news to you, you should probably find a new church because the one you’re at now isn’t very good. But as much as salvation is based on grace, judgment is not. Let’s talk about the basis of judgment and what it means for us.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 32:33-35

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“The Lord replied to Moses, ‘Whoever has sinned against me I will erase from my book. Now go, lead the people to the place I told you about; see, my angel will go before you. But on the day I settle accounts, I will hold them accountable for their sin.’ And the Lord inflicted a plague on the people for what they did with the calf Aaron had made.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the most incredible aspects of God’s character is that He is a perfect combination of justice and mercy. This mixture is not 50-50 like one we might make. Instead, it’s 100-100. He’s 100% just and 100% merciful. He’s all of both at exactly the same time. We can trust that He will always do the right thing, but He will always do the right thing in the most merciful way possible. We trust that in part because of passages like this one. Let’s talk about what’s going on here.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 23:6-9

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“You must not deny justice to a poor person among you in his lawsuit. Stay far away from a false accusations. Do not kill the innocent and the just, because I will not justify the guilty. You must not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and corrupts the words of the righteous. You must not oppress a resident alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be a resident alien because you were resident aliens in the land of Egypt.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Sometimes you come across a passage of Scripture that seems pretty straightforward on an initial reading. A bit closer of an inspection confirms this, but it can also help us see what made sense in the beginning with a little more depth and clarity. These verses once again remind us of the inherently just nature of God’s character. Let’s talk about what’s going on here, and then put them in the bigger context of the larger passage here at the beginning of Exodus 23.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 23:1-3

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“You must not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked to be a malicious witness. You must not follow a crowd in wrongdoing. Do not testify in a lawsuit and go along with a crowd to pervert justice. Do not show favoritism to a poor person in his lawsuit.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Justice is hard to obtain. It’s so hard that when someone manages to achieve it, we tell those stories. They get splashed all over the newspapers. Well, that’s not really true anymore. They get splashed all over the Internet. They get made into movies. They become urban legends. Yet this isn’t how things should be. We serve a God who is just. How do we know? Well, because we keep running into passages like this one. God cares about justice and wants His people to care about it as well. Let’s talk through yet another example of this in a law He gave to Israel.

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